Best practice when approaching an automation effort

The HipChat team gets a lot of value out of bots because we know when to use them and when apps are a better choice. To be fair, not every team spends their days obsessing over the ins and outs for group messaging platforms like we do, so sometimes it isn’t always clear what to automate–or even what the options are. advertisement advertisement But you don’t have to be an engineer to squeeze the most productivity out of your team on whichever collaborative platform your company uses. It’s all about deciding what type of task you need to complete. Here’s how we make that call, then look for the right means of automating it–or not. To Bot Or Not To Bot? First, some semantics: Almost every service bot you encounter in a chat service–whether it’s to order an Uber within a room, receive notifications from PagerDuty, or track customer activities on Salesforce–is what’s known as a “full” service outside of the chat platform itself. In these situations, the … [Read more...] about Bot Or Not: How HipChat Uses Automation For Team Productivity

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Tech leaders are expected to stay up to date on all the latest tech concepts, but in today’s businesses, there are certain tech terms every leader needs to understand—no matter their specialty. Without a thorough grounding in the tech processes and tools modern companies require to operate, leaders can’t make the correct strategic decisions, communicate effectively with the tech professionals they work with or safely and fully serve their customers. From learning how essential tech tools really operate to understanding how to protect their assets in an increasingly digital world, expanding their tech knowledge can help any leader become better at their job. Here, 16 members of Forbes Technology Council share common technology terms and concepts many nontech people misunderstand, what they actually mean and why they’re important. 1. Compliance One business-critical term that is often misused and misunderstood by … [Read more...] about 16 Tech Terms And Concepts Every Business Leader Should Understand

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Chief Operating Officer Mike Hoffman leads business transformation for scaled growth and client success at SBI Growth . Pent-up demand and accelerated growth expectations are leading many CEOs to take a hard look at whether an acquisition is the most effective way to achieve their goals. For companies that have built and grown effectively on their own, the unknowns of an acquisition can be daunting. However, with a strategic investment of time in finding the right acquisition and approaching the pre- and post-merger steps correctly, the rewards can far outweigh the potential risks. Minimize Risks Before Making An Acquisition The first step is to do your go-to-market diligence. Create a comprehensive view of the target’s revenue engine, its overall health and the levers that will drive measurable improvement and sustainable growth. Your checklist should look like this: • Assess the target’s … [Read more...] about Maximizing Growth Through Acquisitions

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin With the planet at stake, business leaders need to drive ESG strategy across the enterprise ecosystem. ESG is everywhere these days—but even with its meteoric rise into the C-suite's psyche, there’s still a lot of ambiguity around what a successful ESG strategy looks like. To get some answers, we talked with Edua Dickerson, VP of ESG and finance strategy at ServiceNow. Dickerson is responsible for developing, activating, and overseeing the company’s ESG strategy. She also leads financial, talent, and reskilling initiatives. Her holistic insights into enterprise-wide environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts put her in a unique position to explain why right now is an inflection point for ESG programs around the world. Q: Everyone's talking about ESG. Why now? A: People are recognizing that the sustainability of the planet is at stake. If the world becomes unlivable, we all lose—even the best-run … [Read more...] about How ESG Went From PR Fad To Mission Critical

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin One of the most valuable assets your business has is its brand. Each year, Forbes evaluates the monetary values of the world’s most powerful brands . The top position is currently owned by Apple, and its brand is estimated to be worth $241.2 billion. This valuation reflects more than just the technology company’s products or services. A brand is what customers experience as they interact with each aspect of an organization—from the marketing they encounter before making a purchase, to the actual experience in using the product and even to the customer service whenever they run into issues. Having a positive brand experience is critical across the entire customer journey. With the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), more companies are seeking ways to automate and streamline key parts of the customer journey, which ultimately impacts the overall brand experience. In a recent PWC survey , 52 percent of … [Read more...] about Don’t Let A Misguided AI Strategy Sabotage Your Brand Experience

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Great leadership has never been easy, especially if you’re doing it well. But it’s arguably harder now than it’s been in the recent past, and it requires a great amount of emotional labor. There are reasons for this—from the climate outside of organizations to mental health issues and the competition for talent. The impact is significant: Leadership requires more skills, capability, finesse, nuance, judgement and art today. Emotional labor is the work people do to manage feelings and regulate how they come across to others, so interactions can be successful. It is also the effort to stay healthy and optimistic in the face of stress, demands and high expectations. It’s the effort to be aware of emotions, and decide moment-by-moment about how to express them—and it’s becoming a critical leadership competency for the future of work. The Pressure Is On Great leadership is easier in calm seas, but as storms arise, leadership … [Read more...] about Leadership Is Harder Now: 5 Ways To Manage The Emotional Labor

Chin Hin Group Bhd recorded a jump in net profit to RM15.16mil in the first quarter ended March 31, 2021, as compared to RM1.43mil in the prevous corresponding quarter on the back of improved sales revenue. Revenue for the quarter was RM307.92mil, 20.14% higher as compared to RM256.31mil in the same quarter last year. According to Chin Hin, the revenue increase was owing to improved contributions from its building materials sector, manufacturing wire mesh and the manufacturing of autoclaved aerated concrete and precast concrete segment. "Sales was brisk especially from the dealers and warehouse in the distribution of building materials sector due to renovation or upgrading works from end users with the fast-approaching Raya and the higher demand for steel as prices were expected to increase throughout the beginning of 2021 as world supply remained tight and demand rebounded from pandemic levels. "The hike in demand for the manufacturing of wire mesh segment experienced the … [Read more...] about Chin Hin 1Q net profit grows to RM15.16mil on brisk sales performance

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Developing and implementing a strategy that helps your product sell itself is an aspiration for many businesses. A good marketing strategy ends up targeting the right audiences in ways that get them thinking about your brand. As a result, your stores and website start to experience more traffic, and sales inch up. But a great marketing strategy—one that’s really effective—will stimulate demand for years to come. Target audiences will realize a need they didn’t know they had. Your brand becomes the first thing people think about when they consider your product or service category. Household names like Coca-Cola, Campbell’s and Disney didn’t just rise to the top by chance. Savvy planning, execution and analysis identified ways to reach high-potential market segments while differentiating the brand enough to shield it from the competition. If you want your business to reach household name status, you will need to follow … [Read more...] about How To Make Your Marketing Strategy A Reality

By DEEPA BHARATH, HOLLY MEYER and DAVID CRARY , Associated Press Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention, America’s largest Protestant denomination, stonewalled and denigrated survivors of clergy sex abuse over almost two decades while seeking to protect their own reputations, according to a scathing 288-page investigative report issued Sunday. These survivors, and other concerned Southern Baptists, repeatedly shared allegations with the SBC’s Executive Committee, “only to be met, time and time again, with resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility from some within the EC,” said the report. The seven-month investigation was conducted by Guidepost Solutions, an independent firm contracted by the Executive Committee after delegates to last year’s national meeting pressed for a probe by outsiders. “Our investigation revealed that, for many years, a few senior EC leaders, along with outside counsel, largely controlled the EC’s response to these reports of abuse … [Read more...] about Report: Top Southern Baptists stonewalled sex abuse victims

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Three lessons learned as a global workplace services leader in the pandemic era. The Japanese worldview of wabi-sabi holds that nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect. I believe it’s the key to survival in a pandemic era where workplace routines have been thrown out the window. Wabi-sabi asks us to find the beauty in the imperfect and to accept that nothing stays the same. It challenges us to embrace impermanence. Could there be a more ideal philosophy to help us navigate through a time of upheaval and uncertainty? By applying this mindset to the past few years, my workplace services team has overcome challenges and constant change I would never have expected. Today, we can pivot at a moment’s notice with relative grace and efficiency. Of course, it takes more than just a philosophical embrace of ambiguity. It requires smart strategies that set us up for success. Here are some lessons learned … [Read more...] about Embracing Uncertainty In A Wabi-Sabi World